Missiology: The Mission of the Church Senior Pastor Alex Kennedy Missiology is the study of Christian missions. At Carmel, we define missions as accomplishing the Great Commission in partnership with the global church through the stewarding of resources entrusted to us by God. We believe that the Scripture makes it clear that God’s heart is for the nations to know Him (1 Tim 2:4). As a result, Jesus gave His church a mandate (the Great Commission Matt 28:18-20) to spread the message of the Gospel to all nations. Carmel defines a disciple as “a follower of Christ in learning and living.” The term mission implies that there is a sender, someone sent by the sender, a group they are sent to, and a message or assignment for them to do. The story of Scripture fleshes this out. The Father sent the Son (John 3:16). Jesus reaffirms this when He speaks of Himself in the synagogue (Luke 14:16-19). The Holy Spirit was sent to us as well (Luke 24:49; John 15). Jesus is the Sender and the Sent (John 20:19-21)! Who are the Nations? Typically, people think of geopolitical entities or geographical locations. However, the meaning of the word nations refers to people who are culturally, ethnically, and liguistically distinct from one another. These are known as “people groups”, and Jesus’ command is that we are to make disciples of all the distinct people groups of the world. There is a very real battle raging, but not against flesh and blood. Our battle is against rulers, against powers, against the forces of darkness, against spiritual forces (Eph 6:12). In other words, we must see the nations as they really are; not as enemies, but prisoners of war waiting to be freed! With there being roughly 7000 unreached people groups, there is a great work to be done! At Carmel, we believe: Vibrant, healthy, disciple-reproducing churches are the most effective means of spreading the gospel because the influence of an indigenous community of faith will far surpass even the most consistent, but temporary, involvement of a church like Carmel. Church planting and church multiplication, not just evangelism, should be part of the DNA of a church from its formation. Churched or reached areas are those people groups where the local communities of faith are strong enough to reproduce and reach their own people. Unreached people groups have little to no access to the gospel and lack the critial mass to make disciples sufficient to reach their people without outside assistance. Three Truths… An eternal hell awaits those who do not believe the gospel (Acts 4:12; 2 Thess 1:6-9; Rev 20:11-15) An eternal heaven awaits those who believe the gospel (John 3:16; Rev 21:1-4) God SENDS us to be the means through which the gospel spreads (Rom 10:10-17) Three Actions… PRAY Passionately (Matt 24:14; Matt 9:37-38). We have 31 mission partners. Pray for one each day of the month. You can see them HERE. Continue to Generously GIVE (Psalm 67) Let’s GO…We have many international mission trips going this year! You can see them HERE. Nearly 30% of the people on our planet, over 2 billion souls, live completely out of reach of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are areas where there are no churches or local believers. Unless someone comes from the outside, the likelihood that someone from one of these areas will ever come across a follower of Christ is next to zero (Rom 10:14) Our commission is predicated on our submission to Him, so when prompted to pray, give, and go, we either follow in obedience or act in disobedience. The Great Commission is undergirded by the Great Commandment. Remember, a co-mission means you don’t go alone! You have the power of the Holy Spirit guiding you. Questions to Consider: Have you ever been on a mission trip? How did you see the gospel spread? How did it impact you? If you believe the gospel, then it affects the way you live. How does the gospel make you live differently? What action step are you going to make in regards to the command to “go and make disciples”?